Approximately two decades ago, the Psychedelic Furs first performed in New Orleans. The gig was at the Oak Street club then known as Jed’s. As was typical 20 years ago (and in the present era), local music recitals never start on time. Usually, they’re an hour or so late. Opening acts further delay the proceedings.
The rule of thumb has always been to adopt an extremely casual attitude concerning time and/or space when one is going out. So when the Psychedelic Furs came to town we assumed that 10 p.m. really meant "around midnight." After all, they were supposed to be "psychedelic." To be on the safe side, we arrived around 11 p.m. Shockingly, the Furs were already playing. To our dismay, we only caught the last three or four songs. There was no encore. The Furs sounded great but it was a bit like the first time you had sex: wham, bam, damn!
After many years of touring the globe, Richard Butler, the Furs’ lead singer, decided to disband the group because (A) he was weary of playing "Pretty In Pink" and "Love My Way" every night and (B) he wanted to stay home in beautiful upstate New York with his beautiful wife and beautiful daughter, creating beautiful paintings. But alas, the creative mind is never satisfied with maintaining the status quo. Butler has re-formed the Psychedelic Furs and hit the road, that endless strip of asphalt that will bring him to Tiptina’s original location on August 9.
Via telephone, we recently contacted Butler and what follows are excerpts (we’ve deleted all the stuff about the painter Balthus and his infamous portraits of adolescent pin-up girls) from our pleasantly unpsychedelic chat.
Hey, what happened the last time you played here? It was awfully quick.
We wanted to get out and get drinking.
Do you remember the show?
No, that probably means I’d already started drinking.
Are you a fan of New Orleans music?
Not really. It’s big band jazz, isn’t it?
Oh no–it’s everything. We believe all music originated in New Orleans.
I thought it all came from the Mississippi Delta.
Well, actually it all came from Africa, landed in New Orleans, went to the Delta and ended up in Seattle. What kind of music were you reared on?
My dad used to play music quite a lot–Hank Williams, Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich…Jim Reeves, who I really didn’t care for.
And nowadays?
A lot of opera…and I love the Moby album [Play].
My favorite Psychedelic Furs song is "India"–are you going to play it in New Orleans?
No, you missed it the first time.
"Pretty In Pink"–are you playing that?
Yeah.
"Love My Way"–is that on the agenda?
Oh yeah (laughing)–we’re doing all the ones I left because of.
JUVENILE BEHAVIOR
Juvenile, a.k.a. Terius Gray, was arrested in late July at his new residence in Mandeville’s exclusive Woodstone gated community after scuffling with five exotic dancers at a housewarming party. Juvenile allegedly chased the dancers down the street with an icepick. Might we point out to our foreign readers that Mandeville is one of Louisiana’s richest per capita communities and a Republican stronghold, as well as the home of David Duke.
SOUL POWER
Tim Livingston, marketing director for Sundazed Records, reports that the label will release an entire album of previously unreleased Meters tracks including live cuts–something that Meters fans have been begging for since the dawn of the Funk Era. Likewise exciting is the announcement that Sundazed will release a 50-track double-CD collection entitled Sansu Soul from New Orleans featuring the brilliant productions of Allen Toussaint.
NOTHING DOING
The Radiators have signed with Capricorn Records (also Galactic’s label) and have spent the past month cutting songs at Trent Reznor’s Nothing Studio on Magazine Street. Barney Kilpatrick, a long-time Radiators fan and recently-hired Capricorn executive, is the man responsible for the deal.
FIGHTING WORDS
In what is perhaps the worst injury to happen to a drummer, Jody Smith of the Atomic Thunk had his hand fractured in what he describes as "a barroom brawl with some rednecks." The hand has now healed and Jody returns to the bandstand on August 5 and August 25 at Checkpoint Charlie’s. If you have yet to experience the Thunk, demand one of their intense Led Zeppelin covers. This is not music for mellow listeners.
ROAD TRIPZ
During July, the ReBirth Brass Band led a second-line of New Yorkers through Times Square and Michael Ray & the Cosmic Krewe funked up the proceedings at the Umbria Jazz Fest in Perugia, Italy. Immediately before that, Ray was on the road with his old compatriots in Kool & the Gang.
HARDCORE TO THE CORE
We receive countless email messages–too many to read, too many to analyze. But sometimes a jewel pops up, which was the case when we received a recent dispatch from Bram Raven (862-6853), a local teenager who is looking for a hardcore drummer and a hardcore bassist. They need to be "around the ages 14-17 and know about rhythm and know how to play–don’t have to be totally able to play." We love that last part! Expertise has always been the downfall of rock ‘n’ roll!
